What is Better, People Search or White Pages?

There are several ways of finding someone through the Internet, but they are not all equal.

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There are several ways of finding someone through the Internet, but they are not all equal. Social networking sites can be a great asset, unless the person in question uses a different site or doesn’t use social networking sites at all. Many people meet up through Classmates.com or Reunion.com, but that only works if the other person has signed up for the same service.

So the two best options for finding people eventually boils down to the white pages and people search engines. Which is better?

The most obvious criterion for making a choice between the two is money: white pages searches are usually provided free by search engines or phone companies, whereas people searches generally cost money. Even though this is enough reason to choose white pages, the fact remains that in most cases the people search services are a better choice for finding people.

White pages are a good choice if you have lost an address or phone number of a good friend who has lived in the same place for a long time. That’s because the white pages on the Internet function just like a phone book, they require you to know the general area where a person lives and they are not very current.

People searches, on the other hand, use public records nation-wide to search for people based on a wide variety of criteria, like name, age, address, social security number and more. Some people search services even allow you to search by email address.

The added advantage comes in being able to find people no matter where a subject has moved or how long it has been since you lost contact. The people search reports usually include additional information that is useful in identifying an old friend or relative. Good people search services can include information about address history, possible aliases or associated names and even possible relatives or household members. The white pages provide none of this information.

The bottom line is that white pages are usually only useful if you already know where someone is but lost the phone number or address. But for situations where you are trying to find someone with whom you have lost contact, a people search is the best way to go.

Check out our side-by-side comparison of services or read reviews of individual companies to get an idea of which people search service is best for you.

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